A starter of an engine is usually mounted near a connecting portion where the engine and transmission are connected together. A pinion gear provided in the starter meshes with a ring gear provided in the outer periphery of a drive plate or flywheel provided at an end of a crankshaft. The starter starts the engine by rotating the ring gear.
In an automatic transmission, a drive plate provided at an end of the crankshaft of an engine is fastened to a torque converter at an end of an input shaft of the transmission by means of bolts or the like. The fastening operation usually requires an operating space for it.
However, depending upon the layout of auxiliaries attached to the engine and transmission, there are limitations to the operating space. In particular, for effecting sealing between the engine and the automatic transmission, there is provided a rear plate dividing the engine from the automatic transmission. Thus, in performing an aligning operation between the bolt holes of the drive plate and torque converter, visual checking and the insertion of a fastening tool are rather difficult to perform. Thus, the efficiency of the fastening operation is rather low.
JP 11-270406 A, published in Japan in 1999, discloses a rear plate which has, apart from the opening for mounting the starter (by receiving a part of the starter), a cutout portion facing the portion where the drive plate and the torque converter are fastened together, the cutout portion being provided around the opening for mounting the starter. This cutout portion is used as a window for the fastening operation. Further, the cutout portion helps to enlarge the operating space, thereby facilitating the insertion of the tool.
However, the width of the cutout portion is limited depending on the size of the starter, and it is not satisfactory from the viewpoint of the visual checking in the bolt hole aligning operation.